NEWSLETTER AND LEGAL UPDATES: SUMMER 2013

OUR VISION:

SUCCESS BASED ON LONG LASTING

RELATIONSHIPS FORGED IN INTEGRITY,

EXCELLENCE, COMMITMENT AND TEAMWORK.

Fanning Harper Martinson Brandt & Kutchin, P.C. is pleased to provide you with our Summer 2013 Newsletter and Legal Update. Below you will find information regarding successes and activities of our attorneys.

Please click the hyperlinks for updates regarding Local Government, Products Liability, Employment Law, Special Education Law, School Law, Commercial Trucking Litigation, Premises Liability, Land Use, Zoning, and Regulatory Taking and Insurance Law.  Please call us with your questions or comments.

VICTORY BEFORE THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

THOMAS P. BRANDT and JOSHUA SKINNER recently obtained a victory before the U.S. Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court denied Plaintiff’s petition for writ of certiorari and, as a result, confirmed the victory we had obtained before the Fifth Circuit.  This case involved a grade dispute.  The Plaintiff, a former college student, sued his former professor over a grade she had given him in an English course.  We argued successfully that the university professor should be granted qualified immunity from such a claim.

APPELLATE VICTORY

THOMAS P. BRANDT, FRANCISCO J. VALENZUELA and LAURA O’LEARY obtained an appellate victory for a north Texas school district in an employment discrimination claim.  The plaintiff alleged that she was subjected to discrimination based upon her sex.  The trial court denied our motion for summary judgment and we appealed.  On June 3, 2013 the Dallas Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s decision and dismissed the plaintiff’s claim of sex discrimination.

DISTRICT COURT VICTORIES

TOM BRANDT and JOHN HUSTED successfully defended a north Texas school district in a lawsuit brought by a former school district administrator who alleged that she suffered pay discrimination and retaliation under the Equal Pay Act.  FHMBK filed a motion for summary judgment, which the federal court granted.  All claims were dismissed with prejudice. 

THOMAS P. BRANDT AND STEPHEN D. HENNINGER successfully defended a North Texas City in a suit for the violation of Constitutional rights because of alleged excessive force by police officers in the course of an arrest. Following the filing of a motion to dismiss by FHMBK, the Court dismissed the Plaintiff’s claims with prejudice.

STEPHEN D. HENNINGER successfully defended a North Texas County Judge, two County Constables, and a County Clerk in  a suit alleging the violation of Constitutional rights in connection with an eviction and foreclosure proceeding. Following the filing of a motion to dismiss by FHMBK, the Court dismissed all claims with prejudice.   

MARC FANNING obtained a defense jury verdict in a premises liability case for a well-known regional grocery store chain in a case that was tried in Dallas County Court at Law No. 3.  The plaintiff had prayed for damages over $500,000 but recovered nothing as a result of the trial and verdict.

SPEECHES AND PUBLICATIONS

THOMAS P. BRANDT spoke at the annual meeting of the Southwest Transit Association (SWTA) held in Dallas on July 15, 2013.  Mr. Brandt spoke on the topic “First Amendment Issues In Transit.”  

LAURA O’LEARY spoke at the annual conference of the Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education in Austin on July 16, 2013.  Ms. O’Leary and her co-presenter, special education consultant Cindy Michaels, addressed the conference on the topic of responses to disability-based harassment or bullying in the school context.  Click here for a link to the paper they presented.

JOSHUA SKINNER  spoke at the 2013 State Bar of Texas Government Law Boot Camp on July 17 on the topic of “The Basics of Qualified Immunity.”  Click here for a link to Mr. Skinner’s paper.

THOMAS P. BRANDT spoke at the State Bar’s Annual Suing and Defending Governmental Entities seminar in Austin on July 19, 2013 on the topic of Schools as Incubators of Constitution Litigation.  Click here for a link to Mr. Brandt’s paper.

FRANCISCO J. VALENZUELA spoke at the State Bar’s Annual Suing and Defending Governmental Entities seminar in Austin on July 18, 2012 on the topic of the differences between Texas and federal employment law claims.  Click here for a link to Mr. Valenzuela’s paper.

THOMAS P. BRANDT spoke at the Texas Bar School Law Section Retreat in San Antonio on Student Civil Rights Litigation on July 19, 2013.

FRANCISCO J. VALENZUELA spoke about religious freedom issues at Mater Dei Parish Catholic Church as part of the Parish’s Fortnight for Freedom observance. 

HONORS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Dallas law firm Fanning Harper Martinson Brandt & Kutchin, P.C., is pleased to announce that accomplished attorney Don Martinson has earned selection in The Best Lawyers in America for 2014 based on his work in insurance law. For more information about his honor, please click here.

This newsletter is established for informational purposes only. Nothing in this newsletter should be construed as individual advice, and the use of the e-mail link for communications with the firm or any individual member of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship.